Fear and Love
by vampyr-eternal
Summary: He offered her dreams... then he invaded them. What happens when Sarah gets sick of vivid dreams and sleepless nights?


Fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave…

The words haunted her dreams, invaded her soul, plagued her mind until she'd find herself reliving that moment in a vision so vivid the real world seemed pale and unreal in comparison.

How had she said no? _ Why_ had she said no? He had offered her everything, offered her love… Many a night she'd closed her eyes and seen nothing but his face, that beautiful, seductive face, and imagined giving another answer. Yes. Such a simple word, so small compared to the sentence that she had used to thrust away her dreams with both hands, even as she'd wished to take them back. She should have said yes, bargained with him, made him send Toby back Aboveground whilst she stayed Underground with him. Why hadn't she, why?

She knew why, how could she trust him? Had that been the final test, reject that which she wanted more than anything in order to save her brother? Or had his offer been genuine? Did he love her, truly love her? Had she thrown away something so precious for fear of consequences that would never have been?

The thoughts went around and around her head. Once again she saw his face, gazed into those gorgeous mismatched eyes. Felt his arms around her as they danced once again in the crystal ballroom. The heat in her rose as he moved closer to her as they danced, his hand moving slowly up her back, pressing her to him. Her breath became shallower as he leaned his head in, his eyes remained open, love shining from their depths as he went to kiss her…

She woke up gasping, drenched in sweat. Not again…

The dreams had been happening for months, variations on the same theme: kisses in the ballroom, embraces in the Escher room, strolling hand in hand through the stone maze, and things far more intimate in the hedge maze…

Each time was the same, just as she was about to let go, to say yes, she'd wake up, her heart racing. She could never quite tell whether it was through fear or excitement. None of these memories were real, twisted dreams of actual events, but not real recollections. He'd never tried to kiss her, never held her except for when they were dancing, other than his final words, he'd never given her any indication he felt anything for her. So why had that one sentence left such an impression on her? How could she feel such strong emotions for one who she barely knew? And why now? For five years he'd haunted her dreams, but it was in his role as Goblin King, tormenting her throughout the Labyrinth. It was only in the last three months that things had changed, his role had changed, how she perceived him had changed.

As she closed her eyes again she saw his face, and knew there would be no more sleep tonight. Sitting up and looking at the clock she groaned as she saw the numbers 5:03 displayed. Five hours sleep? That's all she'd had, five hours? Grumbling to herself she got out of bed, refusing to dress in defiance of the ridiculously early hour. Instead she threw on her dressing gown, went downstairs and quietly made herself some porridge, if her routine of late was anything to go by, it would be another long day and she'd need the energy. Wake up at some godforsaken hour after dreaming of Jareth, be unable to get to sleep, wait around a few hours, go to work, strive to stay awake until she could come home, then of course be wide awake until around midnight when she'd finally sleep, only to wake up a few hours later and do it all again. As she sat down on the couch, waiting for her porridge to cool she glanced at the clock to see how long she now had left before she had to get ready for work, and groaned at what she saw. Not only was it barely 5:15, but the dial in front of the numbers told her it was Saturday. There was something so wrong at being awake at this time on a Saturday morning! She then realised there was no point in being quiet as her Dad, Toby and stepmother Karen had all gone to visit Karen's parents for the weekend. Great, so it was Saturday, one of only two days a week she could sleep past 7am, her family was away so there was no chance of being woken up early by a hyperactive seven year old, and she was awake at 5am!

"That does it." She shouted, putting her porridge on the couch beside her and standing up. "I have had far too many sleepless nights, far too many early mornings and missing out on a perfect excuse for a long sleep in is just too much! Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be, get your royal ass here right now!"

In truth she hadn't expected anything to happen. The events of five years ago seemed distant, the memories faded slightly. She knew it was real, but a part of her never thought the Labyrinth would ever touch her life again. After the initial party with her friends after defeating the Goblin King, she'd not called on Hoggle or Ludo or Sir Didymus again. She'd grown up, and to do so, she'd had to put behind her all the childish things she'd clung onto. She'd missed her friends, but she'd become a better sister, a better daughter, a better student… Her life had turned itself around, her friends might have been a high price to pay, but she had believed it was worth it.

It had seemed the Labyrinth, the Underground and all those with it had been removed from her life, so it was with no small amount of shock that she gazed at the man that appeared in front of her mere seconds after she'd uttered the words to summon him.

"Now Sarah, that took you far too long, try and take the hint faster next time."

The mock impatience in his voice made Sarah's jaw, impossibly, drop further. He was here, he was really here. After months of dreaming, she was finally face to face with him. Of course thinking of those dreams made her own face flush red, and from the smirk that spread across the Goblin King's face, Sarah had a feeling he knew about the dreams. In fact, Sarah had a feeling he not only knew about them, but had caused them. How else could she explain their sudden appearance, and the fact that Jareth didn't seem in the least bit shocked at being suddenly summoned to her side?

"You rat, it was you who sent those dreams to me! You who's been tormenting my sleep, turning me into an insomniac!"

Jareth laughed before responding. "Yes my dear, it was me, and I must say I'm surprised it took you so long to figure out."

"But why?" Sarah asked, annoyed with herself that she had taken so long to come to the obvious conclusion.

"Because I wanted to see you again, and after five years I was getting rather impatient waiting for you to call on me."

"Then why not just come to me?"

"Rules, my dear, rules. We all have to follow them, and the rules of my world state that any runner that beats the Labyrinth cannot be contacted by any citizen of Underground without contacting that citizen themselves first. Dreams however, are another story. I can appear in them all I like."

"Then why not just tell me to contact you? Why send me such… vivid dreams?"

Sarah's face flushed hotter at the memories.

"Now where would be the fun in that? Sarah, I gave you three years to come of age, and yet still you ignored me, after another two years I became impatient. Any sort of mundane dream you could have explained away with modern psychology, but those dreams… You had to figure out sooner or later that I had something to do with them, it seemed the best way forward." He paused slightly, taking a step towards her before he continued. "And like I said, this way was more fun."

Sarah backed off, unsure of what to do now the object of her desire was stood in the same room as her.

"Now Sarah what is this? Do I see fear in your eyes? Surely not. Surely you, who ran my Labyrinth and beat me at my own game, who defied my every thought and took back her little brother whilst denying my love, would not fear me now."

"I'm too tired for this." Sarah said, turning around wearily.

"And where are you going to go? To bed? You'll find no peace Sarah, I'll be there, waiting for you in your dreams. You can't just walk away. I'll haunt your sleep, I'll creep into your thoughts during the day. You can't escape." His voice was calm, but his words ominous.

"Why?" Sarah asked, turning back to face him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want you Sarah, I need you. I offered you everything five years ago, but you were too young. I waited, but I will not wait any longer. I do not stand here before you offering dreams and crystals. I offer only myself." He paused, looking her dead in the eye before continuing. "And love."

Sarah's breath caught in her throat. It wasn't possible. That was her dream, her only dream, but how could she be so sure it was _her _dream. Jareth had readily admitted to invading her sleep. How could she be sure her feelings were her own? How could she know just how deep his interference ran? She couldn't, it was that simple. He was a master of deception. She knew if she accepted his offer, accepted the hand he now held out to her, she would never again be sure that her thoughts, her feelings, her dreams were her own. And the alternative? A life without dreams, plagued by memories of a man she had loved and rejected. Was that any better? Hers or his, she only knew her feelings were real. So it was, with both fear and hope in her heart, she reached out and grasped the hand of love.


End file.
